


A promise broken

by thousand_miles



Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-20
Updated: 2018-11-20
Packaged: 2019-08-26 14:21:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,770
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16683265
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thousand_miles/pseuds/thousand_miles
Summary: After the events in Wisconsin and Andrew consulting, Phil is distancing himself from Melinda and she wants to know why.





	A promise broken

**Author's Note:**

> It kinda bugged me when Andrew first appears there’s no reaction from Coulson. He’s away from May most of the episode, missing their interaction. I just wanted a reaction, some acknowledgement that the was a bit jealous. Plus their connection ever since the beginning of S2 up until now is so much stronger than before. It still makes me wonder what happened off screen. I just needed to write something about it and this is what I made of it. I hope you enjoy.

She finally found him in the kitchen getting what she guessed was a cup of coffee. Considering the late hour and his tense body coffee didn’t seem like a good idea. 

“How about I make you a cup of tea?” Melinda suggested from door way before joining him at the kitchen counter. She set the cup he was about to pour coffee in aside and started preparing the tea. He’d been distant with her ever since they’d gotten back from Wisconsin. She didn’t know quite know what was bothering him. Was it that he was dealing with childhood memories that he’d pushed aside? Was he worried about Skye? Ever since he’d become Director their friendship had grown even stronger. They had been sharing the load. They had grown closer. It didn’t sit well with her that he was pulling away.

“Wanna tell me what’s been bothering you?” She asked after pouring them both a cup of tea and handing him his. 

Phil leaned against the counter, put his cup of tea down and crossed his arms. A clear defensive gesture. He should have known she would come and find him. He should have been more subtle though subtlety had never been his strong suit. He shrugged hoping to pull off nonchalance. “Nothing’s bothering me.” He didn’t have to look at her to know she was rolling her eyes. He picked up the cup of tea and waited for Melinda. 

She’d taken a seat at the kitchen table, her hands wrapped around her cup of tea. “Phil.” Was all she said. 

She wasn’t buying it. But he also didn’t feel like talking. This was a subject they couldn’t talk about. Laying it all out in the open could break the one thing he held dearest in life, his friendship with Melinda. “Let it go.” He told her. 

“You’ve been distant ever since we got back from Wisconsin. Did being there bring back memories?” She carefully asked. She didn’t want to push too hard, his warning had been clear. Still he should know she wouldn’t let it go. 

He shook his head. “No.” He paused for a moment. “I haven’t been back in years but it didn’t bother me to be there again.”

“Then what is it?” She asked once more.

“I asked you to let it go.” He put his cup of tea down and was ready to walk away, until she spoke.

“Is this about Andrew?” 

That stopped him dead in his tracks. He had hoped she wasn’t going to go there. They couldn’t go there, he couldn’t go there. “Don’t.” He warned again. “I can’t talk to you about this.” He hoped she was going to listen to him. He was tired, he was on edge, one push and he was going to say too much and it would ruin their friendship,

She didn’t like it that he kept his back to her, ready to run out of the kitchen. “I don’t understand.” She really didn’t. Phil and Andrew had hardly interacted. There had never been any hostility between them, nor were they exactly friends. 

“It’s nothing, okay.” He tried once more. 

“No.” She stood up and stepped closer. “Clearly it’s not okay. You’re pulling away from me. I want to know why. Did something happen between you and Andrew? Did he say something?” 

He shook his head. “I haven’t spoken to him.”

“Then what happened? And don’t even try to tell me once more that it’s nothing.” She took a deep breath. “You’re pulling away from me.” She said softly. She hesitated over her next words, but decided to throw caution to the wind. “It hurts.” She admitted.

Her words hit him as if he was getting hit by an icer. He never wanted to hurt her. Quite the opposite, he always wanted to make sure she was happy and safe even though he knew she was perfectly capable of taking care of herself. “I’m sorry.” He apologized. 

“I don’t need an apology. Just tell me.” 

“I can’t.”

“Why not?”

“Because it could break us.”

She was taken aback by his words. It would take quite a lot to break them. What had happened? What had she missed? How could she have missed something so big that could break them? “I thought we had put the past behind us.” She said. “I thought you trusted me.” 

“I do.” He quickly said. 

She continued. She needed to get this off her chest. “I thought we’d gotten stronger these last couple of months. Was I wrong?” She asked, not really wanting an answer. “I promised you no more secrets. You promised the same. Don’t break that promise.”

He looked at his feet and put his hands in his pockets. She was right. He was breaking his promise. When he had made that promise, he had every intention to never break. Yet here he was, because he was a coward. Before he could say anything, Melinda pushed on. She was going to keep him to that promise.

“There’s no going back now, Phil.” 

He knew that. “It’s Andrew.” He finally admitted.

“What about Andrew?” 

He rubbed his neck. “I’d prefer if he wasn’t here.”

“You’re the one who suggested to ask for his help.”

“I know. He’s good at his job. I just...” He stopped.

“You just, what?” 

“I don’t like seeing you two together.” 

“That’s why you left?”

He nodded. “That and because there was a real threat.”

They stayed silent for a moment, both lost in their own thoughts. Phil and Andrew had never been hostile towards each other, nor were they friends. Andrew knew how important Phil was to her and it worked the other way round too. She always thought that Andrew had more of a problem with Phil than Phil with Andrew. By the end of their marriage he had even said as much, but Phil hadn’t been the cause of their marriage falling apart.

“I don’t want you to get back with Andrew.” Phil blurted out and immediately regretted doing so. “Forget I said that.” He quickly added.

Melinda shook her head. “No, you can’t do that. Now you have to say more.”

He really didn’t want to. “I don’t want to.”

Having enough of the distance between them, she stepped up to him, standing in front of him with her arms crossed. “Why do you think I’m getting back with Andrew?” 

Because he’d heard rumors that she’d been smiling and laughing and they had hardly been apart. It felt like she was happier with Andrew. It hurt him because he thought they’d been building something together. Their bond felt stronger than ever. “You’re happy with him.”

“And that should mean I’m getting back with him?” She asked. She really didn’t understand what was going on here. “Where is this coming from?”

“I heard Simmons talking to Fitz that you were happy with him and it seemed like you were getting back together.” 

“That’s your source? Simmons? Really? She hardly saw me with Andrew.” Surely he knew better than to rely on gossip. “Andrew’s a good man, you know that. I value his professional opinion, just like you do. That’s why you asked him. Our interaction was professional, we were friendly. There was nothing more to it. I don’t understand why this is suddenly an issue. You never had an issue with Andrew before.”

That wasn’t true. He just had never voiced his opinion. “I never voiced it. It wasn’t my place. You were happily married.” 

By now their conversation was confusing her more than it should. She still didn’t know why he was so distant, what Andrew had to do with it and why he was refusing to just tell her. From the two of them, Phil was always a bit of an open book to her except for now. She didn’t like it when he closed himself off. She suddenly remembered his words, that he was afraid of breaking them. She put her hand on his chest, feeling his slightly fast heart beat. He was nervous. “You won’t break us.” She whispered, hoping it would reassure him. 

He wasn’t so sure about that. When it came to what his feelings for her, he wasn’t sure where he stood. Did she have no inclination of them at all, or did she choose ignore them? Or was there that other scenario, the one he was afraid to hope for, the one in which he wasn’t alone in what he felt. “I don’t want Andrew here because I don’t want to lose you to him again.” 

Startled by his words, she took a step back. A step back which he interpreted as a rejection. This was exactly what he was afraid of. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said anything.” 

“No.” She quickly said, reaching for his hand. “You just surprised me. You never said anything before.”

Now it was Phil who stepped back and started pacing. “I couldn’t. You were with Andrew and after that we’ve both had to deal with quite a lot. Lately it felt like there was finally a chance and I let myself belief. I didn’t know where you stood, but I had hoped... Then Andrew appeared and it just seemed like I had misjudged,” he waved his hand between them, “us.”

“So you decided to pull away from me?”

“Were you ready to hear it?” He asked, looking at her again.

It felt like a challenge, as if he knew her answer already, as if he was proofing a point. “Yes.”

His breath caught in his throat and he stopped and stared at her. “You are?” He wondered if he’d maybe misheard her. That maybe his mind was playing tricks on him.

“I have been for a while now.” She smiled softly at his stunned expression.

“You never said anything.” 

“Neither did you.” She countered. She had thought about how they would get to this point. In her mind it usually happened after a big fight which scared both of them and made them realize they were on borrowed time. This was far from that scenario. Despite their cards being on the table, both still seemed hesitant. He seemed more hesitant than her. She guessed he needed more reassurance. She closed the distance between them and wrapped her arms around his waist and leaned her head against his chest. She loved how his arms immediately wrapped around her and held her close. She inhaled his familiar scent and let out a content sigh. Who would have thought Andrew would be the one to give them the push they needed.

The End.


End file.
